A Response to Jacob Kaplan-Moss’s “Incompetent but Nice” • Hacker News Board

Re: A Response to Jacob Kaplan-Moss’s “Incompetent but Nice”

#121

Post by danarisissubhum » Fri, Mar 31, 2023, 3:07 PM UTC

danaris wrote: post #58

rtpg wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are definitely people who have ADHD and are simply not diagnosed, as well as people who are "afraid of" medication for reason X. For people who are unsure about this, though, ADHD having-ness is not 100% equivalent to "being unable to do your job with focus". Like parent mentions, ADHD is fundamentally about low executive control. So if you find yourself often saying things and immediately regretting it (often…

ADHD also isn't just one thing: it's a constellation of symptoms with similar causes, and two people can "have ADHD" and have very different subsets of those symptoms.

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Re: A Response to Jacob Kaplan-Moss’s “Incompetent but Nice”

#122

Post by danarisissubhum » Fri, Mar 31, 2023, 3:10 PM UTC

danaris wrote: post #55

MontyCarloHall wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>ADHD is probably the problem under this behaviour. Whether this is the case quickly becomes apparent by working closely in tandem with the person, e.g. pair programming. It will be obvious within the first few minutes whether the person simply cannot hold a train of thought for as long as the problem requires. As you write, there are concrete ways of addressing this. On the other hand, it is also obvious when the la…

> I’ve seen people focus intently for hours to complete a task that would most take others on the team a few minutes, and not for lack of knowledge or training; their brain simply worked at a much slower speed. You do have to be somewhat careful about this. While there are people who do genuinely have the problem you describe without mitigating factors, I have seen people who superficially fit this description to a T…

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Re: A Response to Jacob Kaplan-Moss’s “Incompetent but Nice”

#123

Post by prometheus76 » Fri, Mar 31, 2023, 4:56 PM UTC

zamnos wrote: post #120

prometheus76 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who was diagnosed in my 30s, used medication for about eight years, then got off of it for about three years, I'm going to offer another viewpoint. I am grateful for the clarity I got with the meds, but something always felt off and I definitely talked too much. I finally decided to get back off meds, and my anxiety really subsided. By that time, I had built a pretty effective external structure of calenda…

If you've been on medication, and know the effects of it on you well, and you're able to put systems in place to overcome the shortcomings this legally recognized disability has afflicted you with (as well as the blessings), then absolutely be off medication as you please. Tis your life to live! But for those that haven't been on medication for extended periods, or even just tried medication at all, for whatever reas…

Yes, I agree with you. I am grateful for the short-term stability I gained from the meds so that I could get things straightened out and back on track, but after awhile, the juice wasn't worth the squeeze, and everything seems to be going pretty well without them.

Re: A Response to Jacob Kaplan-Moss’s “Incompetent but Nice”

#124

Post by sph » Sat, Apr 01, 2023, 11:36 AM UTC

prometheus76 wrote: post #78

tr3ntg wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear this all the time, and these workplace-focused descriptions of "phases of underperformance" really apply to me, but I don't think it's ADHD. I can focus on all sorts of things when I try, and when I look up symptoms of ADHD, maybe just 5% apply to me. For me, I've joined new teams and crushed it for a few weeks where it was at least expected performance, but then I quickly fall off a cliff for seemingly no rea…

A frequent refrain from parents of kids diagnosed with ADHD: "My kid doesn't have problems with attention! He can play a video game for 10 hours straight! I have to tell him to go to the bathroom!" It's actually misnamed and many professionals are trying to shift the name to "Executive Function Disorder". The dysregulation swings both ways: can't focus on uninteresting things, but hyperfocus on interesting things. Yo…

> It's actually misnamed and many professionals are trying to shift the name to "Executive Function Disorder".

The way I describe it in a few words: focus and motivation are outside my control. I have no say in how they operate and what activates them.

Re: A Response to Jacob Kaplan-Moss’s “Incompetent but Nice”

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Post by alfor » Sat, Apr 01, 2023, 4:54 PM UTC

gavinmckenzie wrote: post #77

scruple wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often have multiple tickets in-flight but it's because some pieces are blocked and/or I'm waiting on a gate to open or I have some scheduling situation I'm dealing with. Today and tomorrow I'm working on a long running (started 2 weeks ago, will run for the coming months if not the remainder of this year) legacy system modernization project. On Monday, I have maintenance work I'm scheduling that is either going to…

A need to multi-task is 100% ADHD. Our (inattentive) ADHD brains are like a car engine that will stall if it's allowed to idle, and so we have to keep the revs up in order for it to keep running. For us inattentive ADHD people, the meds have the effect of raising our engine's idle speed so we don't have to keep our foot on the pedal through multi-tasking just to stay engaged. It's easy to rationalize this behaviour,…

I like this explanation. Lot’s of multitasking, over consumptions of information and procrastination on my side.

With med it’s like I am more calm and energized at the same time. Made me see how most people see the world for the first time.

Re: A Response to Jacob Kaplan-Moss’s “Incompetent but Nice”

#126

Post by anotheruser13 » Sun, Apr 02, 2023, 10:03 PM UTC

Fr0styMatt88 wrote: post #117

alfor wrote: post #10

ADHD is probably the problem under this behaviour. Can’t complete tasks and underperform but want to help other, be part of the team. People with ADHD have developed coping behaviour to fit in but have very low control on their executive functions, they can’t keep working on something that doesn’t catch their attention. It’s very hard to understand for someone who don’t have the problem "why can’t they just do it!" W…

This is so timely. I’ve recently had a performance review and distractibility and ending sprints with multiple, unfinished tasks is a huge problem that got flagged and that I need to work on. The frustrating thing is I’ve done multiple ADHD self-tests and quizzes (like the ASRS) and Asperger tests (like the Aspie Quiz) and I’m always just on the border or right in the middle for both (eg- two grey boxes on the top of…

You might want to see a neuropsychologist and go through a formal testing process. I've had inattentive ADD all my life, but was not diagnosed until I was in my 40s. I often wonder how my life would be different if I'd been diagnosed and treated earlier in life. Fortunately I don't worry about that.